B8367-001: Internet Wars

The Internet is contributing to economic growth that exceeds the pace of the Industrial Revolution of the 1800s. A recent report by Mckinsey suggests that Internet use has created a significant amount of GDP growth globally. The Internet is not only transforming the global economy, creating enormous value for companies, investors and consumers, but is also transforming our daily lives. Accordingly, it is no surprise that the mainstream press seems to report on this sector more than any other, that a movie about Facebook won Academy Awards and that a book about Steve Jobs is one of the best selling books ever. Indeed, fueled by the unprecedented growth of hardware and software companies like Apple, Google, Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, and Samsung, the Internet economy has captured the imagination of the world. As major technology companies battle to control the underlying technology platforms, there is also an unprecedented number of Internet and technology start-ups valued at more than a billion dollars that are trying to disrupt every sector of the economy. The emergence of these highly funded and valued companies may imply seismic changes in how companies are built, financed, and compete and how industries are formed going forward.

This seminar seeks to explore many of the current trends taking place in the Internet and consumer technology ecosystems, with an emphasis on industry analysis, strategy, and the application of a range of fields from finance, economics, game theory, and psychology, to analyze the strategic decisions and interactions of firms within the ecosystem. We will rely mostly on business school cases, publicly available documents, and current news to assist in our discussions. Students should end the course with deeper insights about the sector, about strategy, and about how firms make decisions in real-life.

Jared is an accomplished executive who has helped lead three of the world's most innovative companies: Spotify, AOL, and Google. He is the current Head of Corporate Development and General Counsel of Spotify, the former Chief Strategy and Business Development Officer of AOL, and a former member of the executive team responsible for Google's multi-billion dollar advertising business in the Americas. Between...